Chapter 312: You've Really Gone Too Far This Time

Linghu Qiu asked, "Don't tell me you didn't know the things being auctioned would be difficult to swallow?"

Feng Entai said, "Who doesn't know that? But knowing it changes what? Of all the people who came to the State of Qi to struggle over warhorses, even those who don't take part in this auction—how many have had things go smoothly? Who isn't taking risks? How many haven't fought and killed? If there's an opportunity, you have to try. Otherwise, why would so many people have come?" Then he looked at the two of them. "I say, did you two know about this auction in advance? Why didn't you tell me beforehand?"

Linghu Qiu said, "Not telling you was for your own good. We didn't want you dragged in and left caught between two sides." Then he suddenly looked around. "By the way, where is everyone else? Why are you the only Tianyu Sect member here at the auction?"

Feng Entai said, "They already left first."

Linghu Qiu asked, "Returned home?"

"You're going to handle the warhorses alone?"

"That's impossible, isn't it?"

Feng Entai said, "I mean they've already left with one of the auction lots. I'll still have to meet up with them later. Hopefully everything goes smoothly this time!"

"Auction lot?" Linghu Qiu's and Niu Youdao's expressions changed violently.

Both stopped over the lake at the same time. They watched Feng Entai continue flying ahead before landing on the water some distance away.

Feng Entai looked back, saw the two men standing behind him, and flashed back. "What do you mean?" Niu Youdao asked in a heavy voice, "You bought one of those batches of exit permits?" Feng Entai could not help grinning. "We bought the first lot. Speaking of which, I really have to thank you, Little Brother. You practically forced it into our hands for only ten thousand gold coins. That saved us an enormous amount of money. It was practically the same as giving it away. Now we only need to think about how to avoid trouble afterward."

"Don't worry."

"If we can successfully get the warhorses home, you won't be left out of the credit."

"I'll definitely put in a good word for you." Linghu Qiu and Niu Youdao were both rendered speechless.

They stared at him. Their expressions looked as though they badly wanted to beat him half to death. Feng Entai became suspicious. "Why are you two looking at me like that?" Niu Youdao ground out the words through clenched teeth. "You bought the first lot?"

Feng Entai smiled bitterly. "I really hadn't intended to win that first lot."

"Who could've guessed you'd be so direct? The moment one of our people raised his hand, you forced the permits onto our own side. At first I even wondered whether you'd recognized one of our men and deliberately given them to us. Now it looks like that wasn't the case." Linghu Qiu's face twitched. "Old Feng, if you knew those things were trouble, why did you still dare bid?" Feng Entai said, "Wasn't that because no one was responding to Third Brother's auction? I knew perfectly well Third Brother needed this auction to escape his predicament. How could I just watch without helping? Naturally I had to help warm up the bidding. Yes, there was danger."

"But I also made thorough preparations beforehand. We searched the underwater area in advance and confirmed no one was lying in ambush below. Heavenly Mirror Lake is enormous."

"Who would know where we came ashore? As long as no one locks onto us, we may still have a chance to get free. If I didn't have some confidence, how could I dare buy them so casually?" Niu Youdao raised his face to the sky and slowly exhaled.

"You can guard against thieves day and night, but not against a thief in your own house. I truly surrender to you."

Smack! Linghu Qiu slapped his own forehead. "It's over. It's over. Old Feng, you've really gone too far this time." Feng Entai looked from one to the other in bewilderment. "What exactly do those reactions mean?" Linghu Qiu lowered his hand from his forehead and repeatedly tapped the back of it with his other fingers. "Eldest Brother, Eldest Brother... I truly surrender to you. I don't know what went wrong in Tianyu Sect's head that they actually sent you here to obtain warhorses. Do you really not care if every Tianyu Sect disciple dies?"

"A useless soldier ruins only himself; a useless general ruins the whole force. Today I finally understand that principle down to the bone. You knew there was a problem, so why the hell did you still touch it? Third Brother already took the entire affair onto himself for you. And you actually went and dragged it right back onto your own head! Are you trying to anger us to death?" Niu Youdao lowered his head and sighed.

"Second Brother, stop talking. Right now I feel like hanging myself. Or stabbing him ten thousand times would work too. I still don't want to die."

"Otherwise, why would I have fought Kunlin Shu just now? Lend me a saber."

Linghu Qiu said, "I don't have a saber. The sword in your hand will work. Don't worry. I guarantee I won't stop you."

"Go ahead. Stab him!" Seeing that Niu Youdao truly looked as though he wanted to draw his sword and butcher him, Feng Entai immediately floated farther away.

"I say, you two explain this clearly! Aiyo!" Linghu Qiu covered his face with both hands. "Eldest Brother, don't you understand yet? There's something wrong with those exit permits!" Feng Entai frowned suspiciously. "They're fake?" Linghu Qiu looked ready to cry. "Fake my ass!"

"The permits were tampered with. Something was smeared onto them. As long as those documents are on you, it doesn't matter where you run. They can find you."

"They can lead a huge crowd straight to you and have them chase, surround, and intercept you! What the hell have you done?" Feng Entai went blank.

Then his face became almost savagely outraged. He pointed at the two of them.

"Tell me honestly."

"Did you know about this beforehand?"

"Why did you hide it from me?"

Linghu Qiu said, "Hide what?"

"We already let you escape safely."

"We came here and took this risk for your sake, and you still have the face to turn around and blame us?"

"No, no!" Feng Entai's face was full of anxiety. He finally realized how serious the trouble was. If things went badly, he really might get every Tianyu Sect disciple he had brought killed.

Linghu Qiu asked, "What do you mean, no?"

Feng Entai stamped his foot on the surface of the lake, sending water splashing in every direction. "What else could I mean? I need to find the sect disciples immediately. I have to warn them and remove the danger from those permits as quickly as possible. You two enjoy hiding things from me, so keep hiding them slowly. I'm not accompanying you anymore. Farewell!"

"Wait!" Niu Youdao urgently reached out and stopped him. "Remove the danger from the permits? How do you plan to remove it?"

Feng Entai said, "How else? Naturally, remove the guiding scent. Or find something and seal the permits completely so the scent can't escape. That way they won't expose our position and draw pursuers toward us. I'm done wasting time with you. I need to deal with this immediately, or something disastrous is going to happen!"

He had only just turned when Niu Youdao flashed over and grabbed his arm. "Then what about me?"

"Do whatever you want. And I'm not criticizing you, but you already pretended to lose once. Would pretending to lose a second time have killed you? Why did you insist on striking to kill? You aren't afraid of trouble anyway. Go make whatever trouble you like. Why ask me what you're supposed to do? I can't manage you."

"You mean I should've let Kunlin Shu seriously injure me for it to count as a real defeat? With that fellow's arrogance, if he didn't cut something off my body to display an absolute victory, do you think he'd have let matters end? Old Feng, are you still my sworn elder brother or not?"

"Why the hell are you two wandering off-topic?" Linghu Qiu stretched out a hand to stop them.

Niu Youdao immediately pulled the subject back. "Eldest Brother, I'm asking you. If you remove the danger from those permits, what am I supposed to do?"

Feng Entai said, "You've already auctioned everything away. What does it have to do with you anymore?"

Linghu Qiu looked him up and down. "Eldest Brother, tell me honestly. When Tianyu Sect assigned someone to obtain the warhorses, did everyone else refuse first, so they finally sent you?"

"How did you know?" Feng Entai froze.

This time it was Niu Youdao's turn to raise a hand and slap his forehead. Linghu Qiu looked left, then right, and gave two dry chuckles.

Feng Entai seemed to realize that saying this about his sect was somewhat inappropriate. After considering his words, he said, "You can't really say everyone refused. They all knew this matter would be difficult. For a while, no one volunteered. But someone had to handle it. I was the one who stepped forward and asked to come."

Niu Youdao lowered his eyes and muttered, "Peng Youzai definitely told you to think it over again."

Feng Entai was genuinely shocked this time. "You can even guess that?"

Linghu Qiu opened his mouth, stopped, then finally offered a tactful explanation. "Actually, Sect Leader Peng wanted to send someone else. He didn't want you to suffer through this. But once you volunteered, it became awkward for him to force someone who hadn't spoken up. That's why he urged you to reconsider. If you hadn't come, then he could've sent somebody else."

Feng Entai sighed. "The Sect Leader and I studied under the same master. Our relationship is fairly good. I know Senior Brother treats me well. That is precisely why, at a critical moment, I need to step forward and shoulder worries for the sect!"

"Shoulder worries?" Niu Youdao raised his face and sighed to the sky. "Heh. I suspect Peng Youzai wants to stab you twice himself."

Feng Entai glared. "What do you mean with that strange tone?"

Linghu Qiu hurriedly smoothed matters over. "Eldest Brother, apart from the people who personally tampered with the permits, no one knows they were altered. If the trail from those three permits suddenly disappears, who do you think they'll suspect? The first person they'll suspect is Third Brother. Forget whether the emperor comes after him. Just look at what Third Brother did to Kunlin Shu. Because of the guarantee given earlier, Tianhuo Sect may find it awkward to trouble him over the duel. But if another matter like this appears, won't Tianhuo Sect have the perfect excuse to come after Third Brother with everything it has?"

"This..." Feng Entai frowned. Then he hesitantly said, "Third Brother can leave right now. Once you're outside the State of Qi..."

Niu Youdao rolled his eyes. "What, are they supposed to wait until I leave before they start hunting me? Why don't you go negotiate with them for me?"

Linghu Qiu said, "Eldest Brother, this is for your good too. Third Brother has only these few people around him. You even showed your face at the auction. If they suspect Third Brother, do you think they won't suspect Tianyu Sect? Once they lock onto a target, what use is there in removing the scent? Inside the State of Qi, they'll hunt Tianyu Sect just the same!"

Niu Youdao added, "Even if you have those permits, can you actually get the warhorses through the border? Suppose you do. If the State of Qi then uses the strength of its entire court against you, you still won't escape by land. The State of Qi only needs to send word to the states along your route. Forget everything else. Simply offering warhorses as the price would be enough to make the local powers wherever you pass detain all of you."

Linghu Qiu added another sentence. "As for going by sea, let's not waste time talking nonsense. Eldest Brother, the other seven permits are already in other people's hands. If the State of Qi wants to target the remaining three, those three documents become useless no matter who holds them. All they'll do is bring disaster upon you. Why bother?"

The two took turns persuading him. Gradually, Feng Entai lost his confidence. Worried, he asked, "Then what are we supposed to do?"

Niu Youdao sighed again and again. "What else can we do? Abandon them. Keep your mouth shut. If someone comes to seize them, toss the permits away cleanly and let the other side pick them up. Then run as far away as you can. In short, if you still want to operate inside the State of Qi, don't oppose the court of the State of Qi over this matter. We'll think of some other method for the warhorses."

Feng Entai looked deeply reluctant. "Exit permits for thirty thousand warhorses! And ten thousand gold coins wasted for nothing."

Linghu Qiu cupped his hands toward him. "Eldest Brother, this is not the time to care about that. For all we know, someone has already started chasing your Tianyu Sect disciples. Do you really want every one of your men to die?"

Feng Entai jolted. "There is no time to lose. I'll go first!" The words had barely left him when he shot away with a whoosh.

[End of Chapter 312]